Die a Hero
by dichromatic
Summary: Die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. What will it be this time around? Seeing Sayaka die such a different death than normal inspires Homura to strive to save not just Madoka. She resolves to save everyone, like she once tried to do in the beginning. — One-sided Sayaka/Homura & death of a major character.


The first time Homura saw that white cape stained red, only one thought flew unbidden into her mind.

_Die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain._

Homura had never actually witnessed the death of Madoka's best friend, Sayaka Miki. In every timeline thus far, Sayaka had either spent out her magic or succumbed to despair and invariably metamorphosed into a witch. Becoming a villain.

But this time, it seemed as if Miki was to die a hero.

The last thing Homura could remember before she saw red was Sayaka sweeping that idiotic cape of hers around Homura's shoulders, pulling her flush against her chest and crushing Homura under her surprisingly heavy body weight. But Homura knew what had happened before Kyoko did, it seemed.

The scream that came following the act echoed in Homura's head for some time after. Droplets of blood peppered Homura's cheek, not her own.

"Did that idiot really…?" Homura heard Sakura say. Her voice sounded far away. Kyoko had become surprisingly fond of Sayaka after the two resolved to fight against Walpurgisnacht with Homura. Homura vaguely wondered if Kyoko would back out of their pact, now that Sayaka's death was to be on Homura's hands. Surely this was unforgiveable?

Hand tightening around her spear, Kyoko launched back into battle with the witch, likely figuring the quicker she brought it down the quicker she could rush to Sayaka's side.

Homura fought to concentrate on Sayaka. The girl's face was buried in the nape of Homura's neck; likely, Sayaka couldn't even lift her head. The blue-haired idiot's shoulders were shaking, and Homura could feel a warm wetness on her shoulder. It took her a moment to realize it couldn't be blood. Sayaka had been stabbed in the back, after all.

"You're hurt," Homura deadpanned. Sayaka's arms shook as she rose just enough to look Homura in the eyes. Homura turned her head to the side as far as it could comfortably go, unable to meet those tear-filled blue eyes. Homura could barely feel the girl's shallow breaths touching her skin.

"N-No shit," Sayaka ground out, laughing hoarsely. "I thought…I thought you were the smart one?"

"Don't speak. You'll make it worse."

"It doesn't matter," Sayaka's voice gained some semblance of strength as she plowed on. "Oh God, I'm gonna die, aren't I?" The cape-wearing Magi had the gall to laugh.

"You aren't going to die," Homura said hesitantly. If what she suspected was true….

"Before M-Mami-san died, she told me…." Sayaka inhaled sharply, small chest heaving with the effort to continue breathing. "She told me I'd regret wishing to fix Kyousuke's hand. I…I really didn't think much about it at the time, but after her death, I…"

Homura finally met Sayaka's eyes. If she was determined to give her last rites to Homura, who was she to deny the girl that small pleasure?

"I-I thought I should respect her final wishes. So, I wished that I could find someone to love, instead of wishing to, you know, fix his…" Sayaka cut herself off, coughing. Her arms shook, but apparently she was determined to spend the very last of her strength on staying upright.

Homura closed her eyes. Of course. In this timeline, Sayaka Miki really was in danger of dying. Homura couldn't count on Sayaka's healing abilities since she hadn't wished to heal Kamijou this time. "What has this to do with me, Sayaka Miki?" She regretted the biting words as soon as they came from her mouth. She was speaking to someone who was dying for her, after all…

Sayaka's voice shook dangerously. "Couldn't you call me by my name, just _once_, dammit?" Homura was about to retort by reminding Sayaka of all the times the girl had called her simply "transfer student", but was knocked down a peg as a stray memory came to the front of her mind.

_Homura, you finally called me by my first name….I'm happy._

Something snapped inside of her. "What has this to do with me, Sayaka?"

Miki—no, Sayaka—gave her a teary-eyed smile, before continuing. Homura's hands clenched at her sides at the sight. "I was…such an idiot. Why couldn't I have just wished for Kyousuke to love me…? But maybe, I knew that us—that Kyousuke and I wouldn't…wouldn't last."

Homura's eyes widened imperceptibly. Before, hadn't Sayaka been deeply in love with Kyousuke? Without fail, she had stayed by his side, even as he couldn't stand to look at her, too painfully reminded of his injuries and the hospital every time he saw Sayaka…

"But my wish came t-true," Sayaka said. "I really did find someone to love…I'm happy I got that chance, even if they could n-never feel the same…"

—_finally called me by my first name….I'm happy._

_I'm happy. _

"So, I'll die without any regrets," breathed Sayaka. "There's no way I'll ever regret it. No way I'll ever regret falling in love with you, Akemi Homura."

At Homura's open surprise, Sayaka laughed.

"Guess I really do have b-bad taste…huh?"

Homura hesitated. "If you had any semblance of romantic feelings for any of us…chiefly I would have suspected it to be Kyoko Sakura."

"I don't get it either, okay?" Sayaka took a shuddering breath.

_I should be comforting her, not antagonizing her._

"Why?" The words rushed out before she could think about them. Her self-control was utterly destroyed. "I haven't been the best of friends to you; we've never called each other by name, even…."

Sayaka ignored her. "It's…really been fun, fighting on the same side as you and Kyoko, you know?" There were definite grey tinges to Sayaka's skin at this point, and her eyes were scarily unfocused. "I'll…I'll really miss—" With a cry, her arms give out from under her.

"Dying in a loved one's arms…is a girl's biggest dream, you know?" Sayaka's thin arms worm their way around Homura's waist uncomfortably, but neither say anything about it.

As the two lie down with the sound of a fierce battle between Kyouko and the witch that murdered Sayaka in the background, Homura thinks that being this close to Sayaka isn't as terrible as she thought it would be. If she wasn't dying. She makes the decision to tell the girl so.

"…Sayaka…."

Homura realizes too late that the soft heaving that signaled Sayaka's continued breathing had stopped.

Sayaka Miki was dead.

The presence of her former adversary on her chest was wet and warm, staining Homura's outfit down the front with her blood.

Homura grasped Sayaka's shoulders, pausing long enough to notice her hands shaking, as if she hadn't eaten in days, and pushed the no longer breathing girl to the side with a sick, dead thump.

That was the first time Sayaka Miki died in such a way. It surely wouldn't be the last.

And when Homura finally runs out of luck, isn't there when Madoka makes her wish, Homura can't fault her for not wishing for Sayaka to come back. Madoka hadn't even known she was dead, after all.

The pink-haired girl's Soul Gem had clouded immediately over when she had heard the news.

And as she's dragged back to that day of her release in the hospital, Homura doesn't consciously make the decision to save Sayaka Miki from her endless cycle of despair.

But it was the best damn idea she ever had.

_So, Miki Sayaka. What will it be this time? Will you die for love, or will you succumb to despair?_

_Hopefully, I can introduce a third option. _

_To live, for once. For all of us to live. Madoka, Mami, Kyouko, you…me. Together in the same timeline. _

_What an impossible dream._

Imagine. Sayaka Miki inspiring such sentimentality in her.

But, it couldn't be helped.

**A/N: I started writing this at ten, took a 4 hour break, and then finally managed to pull together an unsatisfactory ending at 4:00 AM. All of my horrible writing happens at 4 AM. **

**What I'm trying to say is I'm sorry for unleashing this monstrosity on the world ^u^**


End file.
